Vampires and genetic engineering.

“Vlad Ţepeş, the Impaler, Prince of Wallachia (1456-1462) (died 1477)” (Wikipedia, Vlad the Impaler)

Vampires, mythic blood suckers, are creatures that have inspired many movies. Count Dracula, a handsome, noble man who wants to drink the blood of young virgins, is the creature that made many comebacks on movie screens. And as we know, the Irish novelist Bram Stoker invented that character. The real character behind this myth was Vlad Tepes, the Romanian count, called “Vlad the Impaler,” who lived in the 15th century. Vampires are creatures that turn to ash in daylight. 

The purpose of this text is not to introduce vampire tales. Its purpose is to explain what kind of creature the theoretical vampire could be. The fact is that. The creatures that can change their shapes and turn into dust fascinate people. 

Sometimes, people who work in biotechnology create theoretical models, such as what kind of creature a vampire could be. The idea is that the thing that turns the person who is a vampire’s victim into another vampire would be some kind of virus. The vampire would inject tissue into the body of the victim.

Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Gothic horror novel from 1895

And then that tissue forms the virus that turns the victim into a vampire. But how can a vampire turn into ash? In those theoretical models, the vampire is a formation. Of cells. That turns into spores in the daylight. This means that our hypothetical vampire could carry the same genomes. That makes anthrax bacteria take the spore form. The vampire could rest in that spore-form cell dust for hundreds of years. And then this creature must read its memories from that DNA. Water kills a vampire because it causes osmosis in its cells. 

The vampire could use pheromones to control people whom it controls. The tissue can receive things like neurotransmitters and then control the person’s body. That tissue or spores can. Make contact with the olfactory bulb. The spore can send electric impulses to that nerve. Or, it can grow roots to the nerve channel and pump neurotransmitters into the nervous system.  

The thing that makes a vampire turn its shape. It would be the DNA that includes the genetic material of many species. And the vampire must only have the ability to read a certain sequence of the DNA. This DNA sequence turns its creature into another. If a vampire can read any DNA point, it wants. That allows it to change its form. 

As well as vampires. Werewolves are mythic creatures. Full moon turns those maybe very innocent-looking humans into beasts that eat humans. In the same way as in the vampire case, the hypothetical werewolf must have two DNAs. The moonlight can activate that process. And that thing changes the DNA in the werewolves' cells. 

This can make them change their form. The fact is that. In the future, biotechnology. Makes possible. To connect species. A creature that has the same abilities as a vampire could be an ultimate tool for intelligence.  This raises a question about ourselves. Can we be so mad that someday we will create vampires? That is one big question. 

We know. Those things. Like the WW2 era. The Ahnenerbe organization was interested. In these kinds of myths. So, could it be possible that in some laboratory, some person with skills and equipment dreams about a creature that can slip into every room? Control other people. And resist any weapon except the sunlight, silver, and water. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vampire

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vlad_the_Impaler

Count Dracula, the king of vampires, dreams of immortality.

Count Dracula, the king of vampires, dreams of immortality.

The real Count Dracula was Vlad Tepes b. 1428–1431- January 1477), known as Vlad the Impaler or Vlad III. That man ruled Wallachia three times in the 15th century. The remarkable thing is that when we read the biography of that man, the precise year of his birth is unknown. Another thing is that Vlad the Impaler was not worse than any other European ruler at that time. The fact is that this man is the real person behind the myth of the blood-sucking vampire that is known to people in popular culture.

The fact about Vlad III was that he didn't do anything worse than other European noblemen. And he didn't invent impalement. All the punishments that Vlad III used were also used in other kingdoms. And when we think about the famous case where Vlad III claimed to burn a large group of beggars in one of his castles, there is a claim that the fire was started accidentally. Another thing is that people say that people cried because of that castle, not because of the people who died in it.

One of the remarkable things is that Vlad III ruled Wallachia inside the sequence of Vladislav II. The first reign of Vlad the Impaler was very short. Then the power went to the hands of Vladislav II, who died in 1456. Vlad III's second reign in Wallachia power was 1456-1462. The third ring of Vlad the Impaler was June 1475-December 1476, or January 1477. That means Vlad the Impaler ruled Wallachia three times. And two of those periods were quite short. That means there could be other people who helped to create the bad reputation of Vlad III. 

So Vladislav II predicted and succeed Vlad Tepes in his first period.  Some people think that Vladislav II was behind some of those stories where Vlad III was stamped as a psychopath who enjoyed pain. The letter that Vlad III wrote told that he suffered from respiratory problems and bloodied tears. So could some autoimmune disease cause those problems? Or did somebody poison that man? 

Vlad Tepes ("Vlad the Impaler") (c.1428-1431- January 1477)

 Vlad III's reigns as ruler of Wallachia. (Wikipedia/Vlad the Impaler)

Dracula in popular entertainment. 

"This letter written by Vlad the Impaler in 1475 contains proteins that suggest he suffered from respiratory problems and bloodied tears. Credit: Adapted from Analytical Chemistry, 2023, DOI: 10.1021/acs.analchem.3c01461" (ScitechDaily.com/Count Dracula Resurrected: Scientists Shed New Light on the Legendary Figure Behind the King of Vampires)

(ScienceAlert.com/Scientists Connected Old Mice to Young Mice, And It Rejuvenated Them)

Vampires and bats, blood, and immortality

And then there are a couple of interesting connections between nature and vampires. When the young mice's blood was injected into the old mice, that young blood rejuvenated those old individuals.

But then, when we think about vampirism, two things fascinate people about vampires. The first one is immortality, and the second is fast-renewing tissues.

What if researchers changed the old person's bone marrow cells to bone marrow cells taken from a younger person? If the person uses the cells that are stored at a young age, there is no immune reaction against those cells.

In laboratory conditions, researchers give young mice's blood to old mice. The blood that researchers took from young mice rejuvenated old mice. And that thing causes interesting thoughts. In stories, vampires drink people's blood, especially young people's, because they get life force from that blood. In some visions, aging could also be slowed by using blood that is made by using bone marrow that is taken from the person just after birth.

Another version is that the young stem cells, or bone marrow cells, are stored in liquid nitrogen. Those cells are taken from young people, and in an ideal case, the person who gets this cure will use their cells. Those young cells will be injected into the body. And then they will take their position in the bone marrow.

Well, when we think about vampires in stories, those creatures have strong connections with bats. The tissue in a bat's body is the fastest renewing in nature. That means bats can get very bad injuries, but they can fly after a very short time.

Another thing is that bats have a sound organ that they use with their sonar system. If people have this sound organ that bats use to send ultra- and infrasound, that allows them to send subliminal commands to people around them.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vlad_the_Impaler

What kind of creature would the vampire be?

 What kind of creature would the vampire be? 

The cancer cells can suck mitochondria out of the immune cells. And that ability makes them real-life vampires. If those cells can connect mitochondria to themselves they are sucking the life force out of patients like vampires does in fictionary stories.  

Biotechnology can use to create vampire macrophages or super macrophages. Those super immune cells would have a genetic transplant that allows them to transfer the mitochondria from bacteria to themselves. 

That thing could happen by using the same genomes that make the cancer cells steal mitochondria from the immune cells. And then, if the immune cells can connect those mitochondria to themselves they would turn stronger when they are sucking the "power of life" from the bacteria. 

And those cells are making me think that "luckily vampires are only functionally characters". But then we can think that could genetic engineering and biotechnology make vampires possible?

The cancer cells that are "stealing mitochondria" from the immune cells are giving a tip on what kind of creature the fictionary vampires could be. The fast renewing tissues make them very resistant to gunshots. And the thing is that the vampires would be afraid the daylight means that maybe they are created by using extremely fast splitting cancer cells that are hybridized with neurons. 

Hybridization with neurons allows those fictional characters to change their forms from bats to wolves and humans. That means the vampires would just make hairs or nanotubes for stealing the mitochondria from the real humans. And that thing makes them invisible because without mitochondria the humans cannot resist them. 

So where the vampire needs blood? And why the vampire needs only the blood of a virgin? The reason would be that nobody misses unmarried women very soon. And the other thing is that the women are weaker. 

The idea for that short text about the form of vampires is given in the article from the SciTech daily. There the cancer cells are stealing mitochondria from the immune cells. 

If our cells would all hybridize with neurons we would have the abilities that no other creatures have. The thing is that the vampires are one version of the xenomorphs creatures that can change their form when they want. 

https://scitechdaily.com/cancer-cells-use-tiny-tentacles-to-suck-mitochondria-out-of-immune-cells/